Microsoft tries to justify A.I.’s tendency to give wrong answers by saying they’re ‘usefully wrong’

CNBC March 16, 2023
Jonathan Vanian

Key Points

– Microsoft debuted ChatGPT-like features dubbed Copilot that will eventually come to its business apps like Word and Excel.

– Current AI technologies like ChatGPT can often produce inaccurate responses, and some technologists are fretting over the possibility that people may place too much trust in the software.

– Microsoft is pitching the technology as being “usefully wrong.” It’s a spin on AI’s tendency to occasionally stumble with facts.

Thanks to recent advances in artificial intelligence, new tools like ChatGPT are wowing consumers with their ability to create compelling writing based on people’s queries and prompts.

While these AI-powered tools have gotten much better at producing creative and sometimes humorous responses, they often include inaccurate information.

For instance,...

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